Historia Scripta

Chivalry forged in war: from enemies to lifelong friends at the Bremen bombing raid

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Photo; The two pilots, Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler now advanced in age, still share their experiences as best friends at a veterans event.

"..Upon arrival at the target over Bremen, and before he could even release his bombs, Brown’s bomber was hit by German air defense. One of the four engines was completely destroyed, another was malfunctioning, and the controls were now responding poorly. About 15 BF-109 and FW-190 fighters were now on his tail, pursuing him for over 10 minutes. Their fire destroyed the plane’s third engine.."

"..At some point, Brown looked at the right wing of his plane and saw a German BF-109 fighter flying steadily beside him. The fighter pilot was Second Lieutenant Franz Stigler, one of the Luftwaffe aces with 27 kills to his credit.."

"..Seeing the condition of the bomber and its injured crew, Stigler quickly realized that it was not a threat. So, he gestured to Brown to land on German soil, something the latter refused with a meaningful look. After Brown’s refusal, Stigler flew to the right of the nose and remained there steadily. In this way, he essentially prevented the German forces from firing at Brown, providing him with protection throughout the flight to the North Sea.."

“Ancient Greece: The Advance of the Hoplites” by the distinguished and renowned artist .rava

In ancient Greek warfare and art, the head of Medusa, known as the Gorgoneion, was frequently depicted on shields, breastplates, temples, and coins as an apotropaic symbol believed to repel evil and terrify enemies. According to Greek mythology, Medusa was the mortal Gorgon whose gaze turned viewers to stone until she was slain by Perseus.

Greek hoplites and later Hellenistic rulers adopted her image not merely for decoration, but to invoke divine protection, strength, and psychological intimidation in battle alike.

Archaic Greek vase painting provides direct visual evidence for the use of the Gorgoneion on shields; for example, the Attic black-figure amphora ‘Heracles and Geryon’ (Louvre F53, ca. 550–540 BC) depicts a shield emblazoned with a Gorgon head.

In Homer’s Iliad (5.741–742), Athena bears upon her aegis the “dread Gorgoneion” (deinon Gorgoneion), referring to the head of the Gorgon Medusa. This passage demonstrates that, already in the Archaic Greek tradition, the Gorgoneion functioned as an apotropaic martial symbol associated with divine protection, terror, and the intimidation of enemies in battle.

German soldiers attack Stalingrad, 1942, early phase.

During the first month (started 23 August 1942), the German offensive focused on destroying Soviet resistance through aerial bombardment and fast armored attacks. The city was heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe, leaving much of Stalingrad in ruins.

By September 1942, the battle changed into brutal close-range urban warfare. Fighting took place street by street, building by building, especially around factories, railway stations, grain elevators, and apartment blocks. Soviet troops used the ruined city to slow German advances, often fighting at extremely short distances where German artillery and air support became less effective.

One of the fiercest areas was the central railway station, especially Station No. 1. Control changed hands multiple times in a single day as German and Soviet troops repeatedly counterattacked. Another critical location was the Grain Elevator in southern Stalingrad.Massive factories such as the Tractor Factory, the Red October Steel Factory, and the Barrikady Gun Factory turned into fortified strongholds. Soviet defenders hid inside workshops, smashed machinery, underground tunnels, and furnace rooms while German troops attacked with tanks, engineers, artillery, and flamethrowers.A famous defensive position was “Pavlov’s House,” an apartment building defended by Soviet troops for nearly two months. Machine guns and anti-tank rifles were positioned in windows and on rooftops, while mines and barbed wire surrounded the building.

During the first month, estimated German and Axis casualties reached roughly 30,000 to 50,000 men. Soviet military and civilian losses were even higher, exceeding 100,000 people.

A Russian soldier looking over Adrianople (Edirne), 1878.

During the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, Russian forces and their allies advanced deep into Ottoman territory and reached the outskirts of Constantinople. They occupied large parts of what is now Bulgaria and parts of Eastern Thrace.

After the Russo-Turkish War, the Treaty of San Stefano greatly reduced Ottoman control in the Balkans, but the Treaty of Berlin later reversed many of these changes, restoring some territories to Ottoman control and redistributing others among Balkan states and Austria-Hungary.

“The Magnanimity of Lycurgus” by Jean-Jacques-François Le Barbier, 1791, Museum of Fine Arts Boston. The Spartans faithfully adhered to the legislation of Lycurgus. Lycurgus is considered the lawmaker of ancient Sparta, who established the military orientation of Spartan society according to an oracle of Apollo from the Delphic oracle.

“..With the painful defeat at Leuctra (371 BC from the Boeotean League led by the Thebans where the Spartan king Cleomvrotus was killed) where the Spartans, with great losses, bore the brunt of the battle from the fierce attack of the Sacred Band and the left wing of the Epaminondas and Pelopidas, a messenger was sent to the city.

He arrived in the unwalled Sparta on the last day of the Gymnopaidia, the annual summer festival (July 15 – August 15)1, precisely when the men’s dance—men, adolescents, and children were participating—was on stage. Upon announcing the unprecedented disaster, the ephors were shocked but maintained their composure. They immediately decided to continue the dance in the theater as usual and to conclude the competitions.

To each of the relatives, they announced the names of the dead, while the ephors warned the women not to mourn for them but to silently endure their misfortune. Obviously, in this very difficult moment for Sparta, it would be important to maintain composure and order. Indeed, the next day, the relatives of the deceased were publicly circulating with a “bright and cheerful face,” while those who survived either did not circulate at all or wandered around gloomy and humiliated.

Of course, the ephors took substantive decisions by mobilizing the remaining forces of the city, from adolescence to those who were 40 years old, five additional classes, that is, from the battle of Leuctra onwards.

How Napoleon’s family ended up serving Britain and building the FBI

Napoleon Bonaparte’s dynasty produced one of the strangest historical arcs imaginable. Less than a century after the Napoleonic Empire dominated Europe, members of the Bonaparte family were serving two former rivals of France: Britain and the United States.

In 1879, Napoléon Eugène, Prince Imperial — Napoleon’s great-nephew and heir to the Bonapartist claim — died fighting alongside the British Army during the Anglo-Zulu War. After the collapse of the French Empire, the Bonaparte family had gone into exile in Britain. The Prince Imperial volunteered to serve with British forces in South Africa, where he was killed in a Zulu ambush at only 23 years old. His death shattered the remaining hopes of many Bonapartists who dreamed of restoring the dynasty to power in France.

Meanwhile, another branch of the family was building influence across the Atlantic. Charles Joseph Bonaparte, a descendant of Napoleon’s brother Jérôme Bonaparte, became an American lawyer, reformer, and politician. Educated at Harvard University, he served under President Theodore Roosevelt as Secretary of the Navy and later Attorney General.

In 1908, Charles Bonaparte established the Bureau of Investigation, creating a permanent investigative force for the Justice Department. That organization would later evolve into the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The irony is hard to miss: within a few generations, Napoleon’s family went from trying to conquer Europe to serving Britain’s military empire and helping create America’s most powerful federal law enforcement agency.

THE LAST SAIL OF WORLD WAR II

On August 21, 1945, days after Japan’s surrender, an extraordinary clash unfolded in the Yellow Sea. This was the final naval engagement of World War II—fought not by steel battleships, but under full canvas.

Lieutenant Livingston Swentzel commanded a small American-Chinese flotilla of two wooden junks when a larger Japanese junk ambushed them. The enemy utilized a devastating 75mm howitzer, immediately crippling Swentzel’s flagship and killing his machine gun crew.Refusing to retreat, Swentzel rallied his forces.

Armed with bazookas, machine guns, and grenades, he orchestrated a fierce counterattack against the 83 Japanese opponents aboard.In a breathtaking display of classic seamanship, Swentzel ordered his crew to close the distance and board the enemy.

The Americans swarmed the deck, inflicting 44 enemy fatalities and wounding 35 others. Swentzel’s tactical brilliance secured the vessel and captured the survivors, etching his name into wartime history.

Henry of Grosmont, a warrior Duke of 14th century

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“..Modern historians frequently regard the 1345 Gascony campaign as the first truly successful major English land campaign of the Hundred Years’ War- “the first successful land campaign of … the Hundred Years’ War” by Gribit Nicholas..”

“..According to the chronicler Jean Froissart, Henry intervened dramatically, crying “Derby to the rescue!” as he rammed and boarded the opposing ship, helping save the prince from disaster. Although medieval chroniclers often embellished heroic episodes, the rescue itself is generally accepted as historical..”

“..Today Henry of Grosmont is remembered as one of the outstanding commanders of medieval England. Long before the victories of Crécy, Poitiers, and Agincourt became central to English national memory, Henry had already demonstrated how disciplined leadership, mobility, and tactical surprise could reshape the course of war..”

“..Pedro de Candia carefully chooses his garments, a chain mail which drops down to the ground, an extravagant hairdo, a steel shield and, in the other hand, a giant wooden cross. He takes a boat to shore and gets off and starts walking towards the city. The Indian peasants that see him are greatly astonished. They have never seen such a giant, bearded, with white skin, and dressed so strangely. He must be “Sun God”. They are torn between fear and reverence..”

A Greek for the conquest of Peru, Prince Michael’s Chronicles, 3/5/2018.

Refers to the Greek conquistador Pedro de Candia, member of Francisco Pizarro’s expedition to Peru, whose dramatic armored landing and display of a cross reportedly led Indigenous observers to perceive him as a divine figure.

Pedro de Candia was a Greek soldier, explorer, and artillery specialist from Crete who joined Francisco Pizarro’s expedition during the Spanish conquest of Peru. Known for his imposing appearance and military skill, he became one of the most notable foreign participants in the conquest of the Inca Empire.

Paul the Deacon reports that «..the strongest nations meet from here and there, the battle lines are drawn up, and a war becomes extremely bitter and persistent, the kind of which no history tells..» , while previously, after enumerating the numerous allies of Attila, he makes mention of «..almost the whole people of the West, all of whom Aetius had..»

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Nor should we overlook the fact that similar massive migrations of tribes, which caused immense destruction in the Roman Empire, as well as in the Balkans and the Greek region, such as the Gallic invasion of 281 BCE with tens of thousands of warriors – exceeding 100,000 – the numbers of which have not been “critically addressed” by contemporary historians. Examples in Roman history can be found in the protracted and colossal clashes with the Germanic and Celtic tribes of the Cimbri, Teutons, Ambrones and Tigurini at 113–101 BC when Rome itself had been seriously threatened, the numerous Dacians in the conflicts during the early 2nd century AD, with Germanic tribes Marcomanni, Quadi, and the Sarmatian Iazyges at 166-180 A.D.
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Jordanes and Sidonius present a detailed list of the conflicting coalitions and nations, which, however much each historian tries to “downplay” them, still ends up facing colossal numbers.
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It was a huge victory for Aetius personally but also for the Visigoths, who were now well established in Gaul (not for long, of course, as by 500, the Franks would have expelled them to Spain), as well as for the others (Franks, Burgundians, Alans), who now felt secure in their new homeland. As for Attila, he returned to his base in Pannonia, and the following year, he undertook a tumultuous march and successively occupied Padua, Mantua, Vicentia, Verona, Brescia, and Bergamo, before besieging and capturing Milan. It is a reasonable conclusion that such an undertaking and outcome are not achieved with only a few thousand men, especially when it concerns the siege and capture of large and fortified cities.

Types of holes in castle walls and what they are for.

Castle walls were pierced with carefully shaped loopholes that allowed defenders to fire while remaining protected behind thick masonry. Early narrow slits suited archers using longbows, while wider cross-shaped openings accommodated crossbows and later handguns. By the late medieval period, rounded ports appeared for small cannon and artillery. Some openings angled downward so defenders could strike attackers gathered at the base of the wall. The design of each loophole reflected changing military technology and the constant contest between siege tactics and defensive architecture.

A well-preserved example survives in the medieval walls of Ávila. Built mainly in the 11th and 12th centuries during the Christian reconquest of central Spain, the walls contain numerous loopholes and battlements designed for archers and later fi****ms. Stretching for more than two kilometres with imposing towers and gates, the fortifications symbolized military strength, civic pride, and control over a contested frontier region.